This Entrepreneur Raised Over $250 Million To Harness And Provide Geothermal Energy Solutions And Extract Low-Carbon Lithium
Pierre Brossollet’s entrepreneurial story is not one of sudden inspiration or overnight success. It is the result of decades spent mastering complexity, navigating contradictions, absorbing failure, and ultimately choosing to act when conviction outweighed comfort.
Today, Pierre is the founder and CEO of Arverne, a geothermal energy company that has raised €220M ($258M), employs 250 people, has gone public, and is now pursuing more than €3B ($3.53B) in projects by 2030.
But the roots of this ambition stretch back long before boardrooms, capital markets, or renewable energy became the mission. Let’s dive into this riveting blog to learn more about Pierre’s journey.
A Childhood Shaped by Discipline, Movement, and Engineering
Pierre grew up in France in a family defined by structure and service. His father served in the Navy SEALs, which meant constant relocation and exposure to different countries, cultures, and ways of life.
That early instability was not easy, but it opened Pierre’s mind and gave him a global perspective before adulthood. He was one of five siblings, a position he describes as quietly formative. “You’re never really in the right place,” he says. “The big of the smalls, the small of the bigs.”
Even this, in retrospect, shaped Pierre’s relationship with adversity and identity. Engineering was not a rebellious choice. It was tradition. In France, elite engineering schools represent excellence, rigor, and continuity, especially in families tied to the military.
Pierre followed that path not out of curiosity, but inheritance, because that’s what his father and grandfather had also done. To enter the Navy, you have to first become an engineer. Yet beneath the formality, a genuine passion for technical things and problem-solving took root.
Falling Into Energy and Never Leaving
Pierre’s entry into oil and gas was accidental. While studying civil engineering, he selected an offshore specialization almost at random. “Like Obélix falling into the magic potion,” he says, “I fell into oil and gas, and I never left.”
After graduating, Pierre joined Total, one of the world’s leading energy companies. Over the next decade, he worked in business development across Asia, Africa, and South America, building deep expertise in subsurface exploration, drilling, and large-scale energy operations.
But what left the strongest impression was not technical mastery; it was contradiction. Oil and gas have been among humanity’s most significant technological breakthroughs. Yet Pierre also witnessed firsthand its devastating impact on the planet. This paradox stayed with him.
Pierre began asking a question that would eventually reshape his career: How can we use this expertise to serve the energy transition, but without perpetuating the problem?
Learning the World Before Trying to Change It
Living abroad forced Pierre to do more than execute projects. He had to learn people, along with languages, customs, values, and traditions. As a result, he learned to speak several languages to acclimatize himself, and respect became foundational.
When Pierre returned to France after nearly 15 years abroad, accompanied by his wife and five children (all born in different countries), he felt something rare in corporate life. “I had learned what life is,” he remarks. That clarity made it impossible to remain unchanged.
After 10 years at Total, Pierre decided to shift gears. Looking back, he talks about his experience at an amazing company like Total, where he gained deep expertise in the oil and gas sector.
The Mentor Who Changed Everything
Pierre’s pivot began when he met Jean Francois Hénin in Indonesia, a free-thinking executive running a gas company outside rigid corporate hierarchies.
Jean-François offered Pierre something Total never could: real responsibility and the management of an entire country operation in South America. But more importantly, he modeled a different approach to leadership.
Jean-François was not a manager. He was a leader comfortable with risk, guided by conviction, and deeply human. He believed one individual could change outcomes, even in capital-intensive industries.
Over ten years of working alongside him, Pierre absorbed crucial lessons. He learned that even in energy, which is a complex, expensive, regulated industry, individual leadership still matters.
He also learned that if you strongly believe in something and are willing to invest effort in it, you can convince others of its merits. When the company was sold, Pierre knew he would not stay on. He had reached the moment where ownership of his future was unavoidable.
Starting With Nothing—and Building Confidence
Pierre did not found Arverne with capital or safety nets. He started with nothing, no money, no guarantees, no institutional backing. He raised his first €100K ($117.6K), then €1M ($1.18M), and kept going. Five years later, Arverne had raised over €200M ($235M).
Storytelling is everything that Pierre Brossollet was able to master. The key is capturing the essence of what you are doing in 15 to 20 slides. For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley legend (see it here) where the most critical slides are highlighted.
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Pierre took the company public and now has a project to raise more than €3B ($3.53B) by 2030. His path was all about confidence, resilience, faith, expertise, and relentless work. He emphasizes that leadership alone is insufficient; you must also master the technical file, the details, and the execution.
Faith without work is an illusion. Pierre points out that had he remained in a big organization, he might not have realized himself. People can grow in large organizations and learn skills, but they cannot reach their full potential.
Reusing Oil & Gas, But Without Oil & Gas
Arverne’s business model mirrors oil and gas almost exactly, except the output is entirely different.
The same processes Pierre has learned over 20 years apply: exploring, drilling wells, conducting exploration seismic, and building and operating plants.
But instead of extracting hydrocarbons, Arverne produces geothermal heat. That heat comes from hot water beneath our feet, which is local, sovereign, continuous, and carbon-free. For instance, you don’t have to produce barrels of oil in Indonesia and then transport them to, say, Paris.
In some regions, the water even contains dissolved metals like lithium, enabling zero-carbon extraction without traditional mining systems. It is a return to simplicity involving producing energy where it is consumed. And this is produced exactly as oil and gas were produced.
Despite its enormous potential, geothermal remains largely invisible. You need to explore and get licensing, and in countries like France, the process isn’t easy. Arverne’s mission is to change that.
Growth, Capital, and Going Public
Entrepreneurship, Pierre admits, is emotionally brutal. Confidence and doubt coexist daily. Sleep disappears. Pressure never fades. Early on, he realized Arverne could not remain small; it had to be autonomous in its operation. This industry demands scale.
That realization forced bold decisions, including acquiring a drilling company from Vinci, a civil work group, funded entirely through vendor credit, without spending a euro up front. Pierre recalls how he was agile in the processes he used to grow. He also attracted some prominent angel investors.
Momentum built, and context helped. COVID exposed the fragility of supply chains, and the war in Ukraine underscored Europe’s energy dependence. Suddenly, geothermal was not theoretical; it was strategic. Pierre quickly realized he would have to raise millions of euros in capital.
However, he was determined to approach fundraising exactly as he had acquired his drilling company — with agility, a sound mindset, and plenty of audacity. As an entrepreneur, he was also keen to connect with the right people and to have faith.
The final inflection point came unexpectedly: a meeting with the founders of a SPAC searching for a transition-energy target. Timing, scale, and story aligned perfectly. One year later, Arverne went public.
“If someone had told me a year earlier that we would raise €200M ($235M), I would not have believed it,” Pierre recalls wryly.
Failure as a Teacher, Not a Stigma
Pierre’s relationship with failure is deeply personal and deeply European. Talking about resilience when raising funding, he points out that entrepreneurs will face rejection. Potential investors may or may not believe in your ideas, and that’s totally fine.
Pierre reminisces about building 10 Rue Royale, a luxury showroom, right after leaving Total. At the showroom, clients would design their own jewelry. Pierre had invested all the money he had received from Total, but the venture went bankrupt quickly.
In France, failure does not signal experience; it signals exclusion. Banks blacklist you. Institutions close doors. After that venture, Pierre tried and failed to acquire another company, but eventually completed a deal. As he says, “At the end of the day, it was useful for my career progression.”
Yet each failure forced reflection and conclusions. Pierre would ask himself, “Why this decision?” “Why that hire?” and “Why this structure?” He doesn’t believe in a success story without failure; it’s like in politics.
A Vision Bigger Than One Company
Pierre’s ultimate vision extends beyond Arverne. He wants France and Europe to reclaim energy sovereignty and independence, speed up decision-making, and unlock innovation trapped under administrative weight.
Pierre strongly believes that Arverne and similar companies can be much more efficient because they use the same tools and equipment as those in Asia and the US. He is exceptionally confident of France’s ability to create great things like the Eiffel Tower and the efficiency of its people.
Pierre is convinced that they can develop technologies, but they cannot remain stuck between global powers without their own solutions. Geothermal is one of those solutions. It is local, scalable, and underutilized. Arverne is his contribution, but not the end goal.
Pierre’s vision is to provide France and Europe with energy freedom that is not only economical but also offers other benefits. This is why he is confident that Arverne will be successful.
Leadership: Humility and Magnanimity
Pierre does not pretend to have solved the art of leadership. He studies it daily, driven by his dedication to managing his company efficiently and making it a success, and accelerating his business model.
Inspired by the philosopher Alexandre Havard, Pierre defines leadership by two virtues, humility and magnanimity. A leader does not manage projects; that is a manager’s role. A leader advances people by trusting in their potential to deliver.
Trust, example, and character matter more than communication skills or charisma. Leadership is lived, not declared, nor is it a black-and-white exact science.
Advice to Founders: Fail Better, Believe Harder
Pierre’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is simple and uncompromising:
Fail better like Stan Wawrinka’s tattoo: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” · Ignore the voices saying it’s impossible. They will be everywhere, both inside and outside your company.
If you believe deeply enough, you can convince everyone, including your own leadership team.
Pierre Brossollet’s story is not about leaving oil and gas; it is about reusing mastery for something better. It is about patience, failure, conviction, and leadership rooted in humility. Above all, it is a reminder that even in the most capital-intensive industries, one individual’s belief applied over decades can still change the system.
Pierre Brossollet’s success was built over decades by mastering complexity, embracing failure, and acting once conviction outweighed comfort. · Deep expertise in oil and gas became an advantage, not a liability, when repurposed to accelerate the geothermal energy transition. · Global exposure and cultural adaptability shaped Pierre’s leadership mindset long before he became a founder. · True entrepreneurial confidence is earned step by step through resilience, technical rigor, and relentless execution. · Arverne proves that capital-intensive, regulated industries still reward bold leadership, agility, and unconventional financing paths. · Failure is not a detour but the mechanism through which judgment, clarity, and long-term success are forged. · Leadership, in Pierre’s view, is grounded in humility and magnanimity, with a focus on advancing people rather than managing projects.
Original Version
Alejandro Cremades: Alrighty, hello everyone and welcome to the DealMaker Show. So today we have an amazing founder, you know, joining us. We're going to have the Battle of Accents. We're going to have the French, the Spanglish, you know, a little bit of everything. Why not? and But again, we're going be talking about building, scaling, financing, also, you know, having a company listed, you know, why not?
Alejandro Cremades: And they also, you know, having a company that has raised 220 million euros and also that has 250 employees. So again, a lot of good stuff to cover, whether it's leadership, relationship with failure and many other things. so I think that you find the conversation today quite inspiring. So without further ado, let's welcome our guest today, Pierre Brousselet. Welcome to the show.
Alejandro Cremades: So, Pierre, originally from France, obviously we can hear in the accent clearly, and they and and give us a walk through memory lane. You know, I know that growing up, your dad was a Navy SEAL in the Special Forces. You guys got to travel quite a bit.
Pierre Brossollet: Yeah, for me, it was a, well, I would say, I wouldn't say easy life, but, you know, my father, as you say, was ah moved a lot. So it opened my mind and and i I had the chance to see a lot of things growing up until my 18.
Pierre Brossollet: And here I basically, I don't like my brothers. I have a five brothers and sisters. So home high school, university, engineering.
Pierre Brossollet: And um i had the ah I jumped into the i would say energy and oil and gas by i would say by luck because I chose what got an option in in ah in engineering school named oil and gas or named offshore.
Pierre Brossollet: And you know like Obelix in the potion, in the magic potion, I fell into that and i never i never I never left. It's like now like a passion. But after my After graduating in civil work, I joined Total because, you know, in France, it's like a as the best of the best.
Alejandro Cremades: but but But even before that, why engineering? Why the whole problem solving? Where did that come from?
Pierre Brossollet: No, because it was ah not a tradition, but it was, ah you know, in France, you have this kind of excellence, ah well what we call engineering school like Polytechnique, like Central. We have an idea of excellence, which is ah typically French, and this is more engineering schools and the economics or or or like the other kind of offer of school.
Pierre Brossollet: So that's why basically, and you know, by tradition, because my father, my grandfather, I've done this kind of school. So in engineering, because when you go to the Navy, you have to go first to become an engineer.
Pierre Brossollet: So it was like what what I had to do. So it was not by curiosity or by open-minded or things like this.
Pierre Brossollet: It was basically because ah I've done like my the my family.
Pierre Brossollet: So nothing magic, nothing very original. but But a lot of interest still for for technical things and and and engineering.
Pierre Brossollet: But civil work was a choice that I've done personally. And the option of offshore was like an option that friends of mine brought me to. And I didn't even know what what was energy and oil and gas. And as I said, I fell into that.
Pierre Brossollet: So this is more than a passion now. So I joined Total and 10 years of space spent all over the world in operation, in in business development in Asia, in in Africa and in South America that I loved actually.
Pierre Brossollet: and That not only ah gave me an expertise in, the I would say, subsurface, but I've shown all the also all the potential of the of our Earth and especially the subsurface and not only in oil and gas. So I learned also this very big paradox. I've seen this very big paradox of oil and gas, which has reached a lot of breakthrough, technological and technical breakthrough, but which is ah a nightmare for the planet today. So this paradox made me think at some point that I had better to do.
Pierre Brossollet: And basically, this is why i switched and I decided to found my own company. But this is a long story, which I will I hope make sure, but at the beginning it was like, okay, I discovered oil and gas. I discovered subsurface. I discovered the world.
Pierre Brossollet: I discovered the needs of the world and I discovered big paradox ah where I thought at some point that I could help the the energy transition with an expertise, with a vision, but not with oil and gas. Definitely. I had to do something else.
Alejandro Cremades: What do you think, you know, when you were traveling all over the world, you know, with a Total, um what do you think that that that gave you in in terms of um perspective? Because, you know, being in different countries, being able to experience different cultures, I'm sure that that also opened up, you know, quite a bit of things on your end.
Pierre Brossollet: No, a lot of things. First, even if you if you're right, I mean, my accent showed me that I'm French because my English is quite bad.
Pierre Brossollet: But first, you have to you have to learn. You have to learn the people. You have to learn the tradition of the countries. You have to learn the languages. So that's why yeah I speak a a few languages. better So you have to make yourself to a to the people around.
Pierre Brossollet: You have to to acclimate yourself to basically what is ah You have to respect the people.
Pierre Brossollet: You have to respect the place. So on top of, a again, on top of an expertise, It's really a different mindset. So when I came back after 15 years with ah my expertise, my wife and five kids, all born in different countries, ah basically I had the feeling that I learned what is life, very simply.
Alejandro Cremades: Now, for you, as you are alluding to it, you know, you were for 10 years with Total and eventually you decided to shift gears. And that was by joining your mentor. So how was that journey like? Because that was quite a pivotal moment in your career. And it was the immediate step before you actually went at it as an entrepreneur.
Pierre Brossollet: Yeah, no, definitely. You know, when you are part of a big organization like Total, which is an amazing company, because, ah again, terms of expertise, I mean, there is nothing better than an oil and gas major, when when you will really have to be a to be a ah better than the others.
Pierre Brossollet: So you learn, really, I mean, this is this is amazing. But you are part of a very big organization, and and I didn't like this, actually. So that's why, basically, when I met in Indonesia, Jean-François Hénard was the president of a company.
Pierre Brossollet: in gas company and more at problem, I didn't hesitate one second. He proposed me something that even 10 or 20 years after in total, I couldn't manage to get as so basically the management of a full country in South America.
Pierre Brossollet: but But it was more than that. It was that I I've been attracted by the character and by the personality of this guy who became a mentor, and but was a free guy.
Pierre Brossollet: I mean, he was totally free. He was heading the company, but he was not part of her networks like like like we can be proposed today.
Pierre Brossollet: He was really free and he was he was in love with the risk. He was taking risk, but good risk. And and I learned a lot of things with this guy. And then when he decided to to sell the company, well, I decided not to join the next team, but to, let's say, to take it my way and and and to create Averne. But I really have been influenced by... a by Jean-François for his mindset, for his...
Pierre Brossollet: ah was it was a he was a risk maker or a risk ah taker, i would say, but of course, with a lot of influence or on on the team, he was actually was a leader.
Pierre Brossollet: And I like the difference between leader and manager. So he was a real leader.
Alejandro Cremades: Okay, great. Now, obviously, you know, once say this company that you are now working at gets sold, that's a ultimately a moment where you really get that push, that push to venture into the unknown. So walk us through that. You know, like how was that journey like for you, like the sequence of events that needed to happen for you to really bring, you know, your baby to life?
Alejandro Cremades: When the company gets sold um that you are now you know working you know and and that you were introduced via your mentor, ultimately that was the um the shift that needed to happen for you to to take action, to want to take ownership of your own future and to really bring you know our burn to life. So walk us through how that happened. What were the sequence of events and and how how did you you know get going?
Pierre Brossollet: Well, um it it was a long process actually, because i spent, after 10 years in total, I spent also 10 more years in Morally Problems.
Pierre Brossollet: So it was not like a ah quick flash or, I mean, just a, I woke up one day thinking that I could save the world with ah with ah with ah energy.
Pierre Brossollet: No, it was like a long process working with Jean-François and realizing that Even if you have to do things properly, slowly, that you have to work out problems, technical s things, et cetera, there was a chance to to bring your own ah stone.
Alejandro Cremades: to ahead started. going to go ahead and get started. I'm going go ahead going to go ahead
Pierre Brossollet: on on um ah in this world, of and especially in this energy world. This is not because it's complicated. This is not because you need a lot of investment, especially in this business, you ah in in oil and gas, or the energy in general, that you cannot have an influence.
Pierre Brossollet: And this is basically what I i tried to catch with Jean-François, is that even if you are alone, even if you are a single person, when you are a leader, you can change things.
Pierre Brossollet: And it took me some time to realize with Jean-Francois that it was my destiny, it was my future. ah Of course, i'm not I'm not taking myself for ah for somebody else, but I realized with Jean-Francois that if you put energy, if you really ah believe in what you do, I mean, you can convince everyone, you can convince everybody. And I restarted when I decided to create Arvind from Nothing because I didn't have a penny with me.
Pierre Brossollet: So I started raising 100, 100,000, 1 million. And five years after, I mean, I raised more than 200 million. I became public and I have a project of more than 3 billion euros to raise before 2030.
Pierre Brossollet: So it was a question of being sure or gaining confidence that with a lot of resilience, with a lot of faith, with a lot of of force of expertise, and and and on top of that, with a lot of work,
Pierre Brossollet: because of course you have to to work, you don't have only to work your leadership but also your dossier, you can reach amazing things.
Pierre Brossollet: So this confidence, I got it from Jean-Francois. i mean If I had stayed in or remained in a big organization which is very neutral for people or you cannot realize yourself,
Pierre Brossollet: You can grow in an organization. You have to show skills, but it's very difficult to become who you are really. So with Jean-Francois, I got the feeling right now is that after 10 years that I became who I was, who I am today, who I had to become, who really I am personally and very deeply.
Alejandro Cremades: And for the people that are listening to get it, what ended up being the business model of Harvard? How do you guys make money?
Pierre Brossollet: It's exactly the same as oil and gas, but for different for different products. So what I do is exactly the same. that i've done since so So it brings me credibility because I learned during 20 years how to explore, how to drill a well, how to make exploration seismic, et cetera, drill a well, operate and and build ah man plants.
Pierre Brossollet: The second piece of advice is: don’t listen to the people around you who tell you every day that it’s not possible. Especially with my project, Arverne, which could become a multi‑billion‑euro leader in Europe.
Pierre Brossollet: Every day I hear people saying, “No, it’s not possible. We cannot do that.” And practically, they’re right—it’s very complicated.
Pierre Brossollet: Even internally, in my team and my COMEX, people tell me we won’t succeed. You cannot imagine the amount of energy I put every day into convincing my top management that we will succeed.
Pierre Brossollet: So never listen to people who tell you that you cannot achieve your dream or your objective. You will.
Alejandro Cremades: I love it. Pierre, for the people listening who would love to reach out and say hi, what is the best way for them to do so?
Alejandro Cremades: For those listening, what’s the best way to reach you, say hi, and learn more about your brand?
Pierre Brossollet: They can invest money in the company—we are listed. Or maybe I didn’t fully understand the question.
Alejandro Cremades: Do you have an email? Are you on social media? Is there a website they can visit to learn more?
Pierre Brossollet: We have a website. I speak with the media and investors—we’re a public company, so I talk to investors every day.
Pierre Brossollet: We attend forums and have trips planned in Europe to communicate what we do.
Pierre Brossollet: I also have an email, a LinkedIn profile, and a phone. I’m busy, but people can reach me quite easily.
Alejandro Cremades: Amazing. Pierre, thank you so much for being on the DealMaker Show. It’s been an absolute honor to have you with us today.
